Touching grass helped Shari Henning, NRF’s Administrative Director, reconnect with nature and find calmness in today’s world. Learn more in her new blog post below.
Like many folks, I have been feeling untethered lately. The state of the world feels downright dystopian some days, and my sense of malaise is real. Normally, when I am feeling down, I turn to nature.
Hiking, gardening, and birding are usually enough to lift me out of my pit of despair. But recently, even those familiar comforts weren’t snapping me out of my funk. I needed something different.
I needed to touch some grass.
Person walking barefoot through grass. Photo courtesy of Canva
Starting slowly, my first session was just five quiet minutes during my lunch break, standing barefoot in my yard. Why hadn’t I thought about doing this sooner? The sensation was wonderful – cool, grounding, and oddly comforting – like coming home. It felt like my body had been holding its breath for months and finally exhaled.
In today’s tech-heavy, fast-paced world, it’s easy to become disconnected from nature. Our attention is constantly commandeered by screens. It sometimes seems like it takes a Herculean effort to pull away from streaming, scrolling, and posting. Nature becomes a backdrop, something we glimpse through windows or drive past on our way to work. And even when we do step outside, most of us wear shoes that block us from being physically connected to the earth.
Person holding a pile of soil in their hands. Photo courtesy of Canva
As touching grass became a regular habit for me, I found myself craving even more connection with the earth. I started reading outside with my bare feet touching the ground. Additionally, I gardened without gardening gloves, letting the soil touch my skin. I spent more time in the grass, sometimes playing with my cat, sometimes just watching clouds float across the sky. My partner and I walked beaches with our shoes off whenever and wherever we could. And eventually, I started to feel like myself again.
One of my biggest takeaways from this experience is that wellness doesn’t always come from adding more. More time in nature didn’t help me this time. This time I needed to subtract something. Removing the barrier between me and the earth brought me back to myself.
So, next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, I encourage you to take a moment and step outside. Take off your shoes. Touch grass. You may be surprised at how much you are lifted up by putting your bare feet on the ground.
Close up of grass and a white and yellow flower. Photo by Betsy Matzinger
Touching grass on NRF Field Trips
Did you know that NRF’s Field Trips program offers hundreds of ways to get “hands-on” with Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife? Catching monarch butterflies for tagging, wading in streams to identify invertebrates, or gathering seeds from prairie plants to aid restoration efforts are just a few examples.
These experiences aren’t just about observing nature – they invite you to touch and be a part of it. There are even a couple of field trips which feature forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, where you practice slowing down and noticing the beauty of the forest: how the sunlight filters through the canopy; the way the wind rustles the leaves; the scent of damp earth. Forest bathing is a gentle, intentional way to reset your nervous system and feel grounded again.
Field Trip participants sitting on the forest floor during a Forest Bathing experience. Photo by Lauren DeGere
Upcoming Field Trips with open spaces:
- #160-A. Environmental Equity with Nearby Nature MKE on Saturday, July 12th in Milwaukee County
- #165. Paddle Waupaca Chain O’ Lakes: Invasive Species on Thursday, July 17th in Waupaca County
- #170-B. Creating Spaces for Crane Conservation on Saturday, July 19th in Sauk County
- #177. Native Prairie Seed Collection at a Seed Farm on Saturday, July 19th in St. Croix County
For a full list of Field Trips that still have open spaces remaining, see our interactive online map.
Written by Shari Henning, NRF’s Administrative Director